Wichita Falls Rolling Through Lucy Park Tall Prairie Grass

I rolled my motorized means of locomotion to Lucy Park this morning to have myself a mighty fine time rolling my non-mechanized wheels for a long commune with somewhat shady nature.

I don't know if that tall green grass you see on either side of my bike's handlebars is prairie tall grass of the sort which covered the Plains part of the United States back when the buffalo roamed and the deer and the antelope played.

What I do know is the grass was taller than me. And my latest driver's license claims I am 6 feet tall. The driver's license also claims I have brown hair.

The trees of Lucy Park and all that tall grass makes for a cooling effect mitigating the current HOT time we are having in North Texas. Day after day in the triple digits. With humidity. A cold front is supposed to arrive next week bringing a 20 degree chill, and maybe some rain.

I have been asked a time or two, by non-Texans, why Lucy Park is so named. One asked me if the park was named after Lucille Ball.

Today I came upon a rock upon which a plaque had been stuck, which explains quite succinctly why Lucy Park is so named.

On the above plaque, attached to that aforementioned rock, we learn "The City of Wichita Falls gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution of Lucy Park by Frances Ann Dickinson in memory of her mother Lucy O'Neill Saunders for whom the park is named."

Previously to seeing this plaque I had learned where Lucy Park got its name. And that Lucy O'Neill Saunders was a J.R. Ewing oil mogul type who made her fortune owning a couple oil producing areas. I remember one was up north in Oklahoma. I assume the other one was in Texas, likely in the Wichita Falls area.

And now it is time to make a Chinese stir-fry for lunch...

Anonymous Wichita Falls Facebooked Texas History Solved The Lucy Park Name Mystery

Yesterday someone named Anonymous solved, for me, the mystery as to how the Wichita Falls park known as Lucy Park came to be named such.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wichita Falls Creatively Covers Traffic Signal Box While Fort Worth Creatively Clutters":  

Frances Ann Dickinson donated Lucy Park to Wichita Falls in memory of her mother, Lucy O'Neill Saunders. Lucy Park opened in 1974.

Scroll down the following Facebook page link and you'll see a photo of a plaque in Lucy Park.

Wichita Falls History

During the course of my Googling and Binging trying to find out how Lucy Park came to be named I came across a good description of this particular park.....

Lucy Park is a 178 acre regional park located in the center of the city. The park is in a bend of the Wichita River which gives it a natural setting with huge pecans, cottonwoods, and numerous other species of native and introduced trees. For hiking and biking enthusiasts, there is a 1.7 mile concrete trail that circles the park. This is the west starting point for the Wichita River Trail System. A large pond area is dedicated to waterfowl, and ducks and geese can be found there year round. There are 2 large picnic shelters that can be reserved at no charge. The main shelter has 20 picnic tables and will seat approximately 120 people. The Lucyland shelter has 15 tables and will seat approximately 90 people. The park has a Log Cabin that can be reserved for parties and will accommodate 55 people. The park has 2 public restrooms, a large swimming pool, basketball goals, 18 hole disc golf course, 3 modular playgrounds, 2 sand volleyball courts and 1 concrete volleyball court. There are 5 smaller picnic shelters, 30 individual picnic tables, 34 barbeque grills, 4 drinking fountains, and 86 benches. The River Bend Nature Center utilizes 15 acres of the park along 3rd St. Other Lucy Park attractions include a swinging bridge across the Big Wichita River, and a scenic walk along the trail that leads to the Falls. The park is also host to the annual Falls Fest event the last weekend of September.

Any residents of Wichita Falls nearest big city neighbor reading this, how many things can you see in the Lucy Park description that you can't find in a Fort Worth city park? Does not such make you wonder why? As in why are the residents of Fort Worth so ill-served, park-wise?